Cranberry & Orange Ginger Mango Chutney

See, I am addicted to Trader Joe’s Mango Ginger Chutney but I can inhale one of these tiny jars in a day. I like a little food with my condiments, sauces, and dips.

I put the TJ’s mango ginger chutney on everything from crackers to salads to using it as a veggie dip to just eating it straight up.

It’s so good but it follows the Starbucks latte principle: If you can make a homemade pumpkin spice latte for pennies on the dollar, then do so.

If you can make homemade chutney for for pennies on the dollar, then do so.

And I did.

Plus, after seeing my friend Katie share her latest cranberry creation, that was all the nudging I needed and jumped on the cranberry chutney making train.

And I’m so glad I did.

Money saver, right here.

[print_this]

Cranberry & Orange Ginger Mango Chutney

1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries

1/2 of a peeled orange, diced (about 1/3 c)

3/4 c mango, diced (I used TJ’s frozen mango chunks. You could use another fruit, i.e peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, etc. in place of the mango)

1 1/4 c water

1 c white sugar

1/4 c brown sugar, packed

1 tsp ground ginger, or more/less to taste (I used 2 tsp but I like lots of ginger and that provided a very nice kick)

1/2 tsp cinnamon, or more/less to taste (I used 1 tsp but I like cinnamon)

Directions: Combine all items in a sautee pan on the stovetop and bring to a rapid boil and then turn down the heat and let it simmer until desired thickness is reached. For me this was about 20 minutes but will vary on how thick you want the chutney and the rate/heat of your simmering on your stovetop. I could see this being “done” for some people at about 10-12 minutes and for others, 30 minutes.

Yields: approximately 24 ounces of chutney (3 small glass jars). Will keep in jars in the refrigerator for week(s) so you can make a large batch at once. Use common sense but it will keep for quite a long time.

Optional:

If you want heat and a kick, you could add a pinch of cayenne, red pepper flakes, or chili powder. The TJ’s ginger mango chutney has a bit of heat from the red peppers and the heat plays off the sweet from the fruit and it’s a wonderful combination.

Other warm spices include nutmeg, cardamom, garam masala, or even curry if you like it.

If you want to turn this into more of a sweet jam/preserves, add vanilla extract. If you have lemon, orange, or other specialty extracts, they could work well, too.

You could use alternate sweetening methods such as using stevia, maple syrup, agave, or alter the sugar proportions to taste. Note the Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce recipe starts with 1 c water to 1 c sugar.

If you are tweaking the spices and flavors, my suggestion would be to take half the batch and pour it into a jar(s). For the other half, make the tweaks and optional add-in’s so that you have some diversity (and also if you didn’t like the tweak you chose, half the batch is ‘safe’)

[/print_this]

Everything goes in one sauce pan…

Bring it to a boil and then simmer it.

About 10 minutes later…

Done.

You could puree this or use an immersion blender if you desire, but I didn’t because I like the chunky texture of the cranberries, mangoes, and oranges.

They become soft but there’s still plenty of chew and texture.

I could have called this ‘cranberry sauce’ but got a little fancier and called it chutney. Here’s a handy site about the differences between chutneys, jelly, jam, preserves, spreads, sauces and so forth if you want to know what’s what.

It’s fancier tasting than standard cranberry sauce because of the heat from the ginger, combined with the subtle heat from the cinnamon, along with the added mangoes and oranges.

The heat was balanced with the sweetness from the mango and orange and there was definitely that telltale cranberry tartness present.

I inhaled one jar in a day. Between the BLTs (bites, licks, tastes) while making it and taking the photos, it was a really fiber-rific and Vitamin C filled day. If it’s true what they say about cranberries helping UTIs, I should be in the clear from succumbing to any of those til about 2019 with the rate I can see myself enjoying this chutney.

I plan to serve this for Thanksgiving rather than plain ‘ole cranberry sauce.

You could spread it on toast, use it as a dip for apples, use it as a side dish and served in conjunction with an entree or main course.

Or just eat it with a spoon while you’re waiting for the sun to come out so you can finally take pictures of it before you eat it all.

Or give a jar of it as a little holiday gift.

I’m just happy I will be reducing my TJ’s chutney-buying habit.

Questions:

1. Do you like cranberries?

I do but they are the type of food that I usually eat about twice per year. Thanksgiving Day, and the next day’s leftovers, and then 363 days later, I’ll have cranberries again.

However, I foresee this chutney going into rotation so I am thinking I will be eating a whole lot more cranberries and much more frequently.

2. Have you given any thought to Thanksgiving menu planning?

Are you cooking? Bring a side dish to someone’s house? Going to a restaurant? Or just showing up at a relative’s house with a big appetite and enjoying the fruits of their cooking labors? <– that’s the best way to do it if you can swing it

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is just over a week away. Wow. This year flew by.

I did buy some food for Thanksgiving for Scott.

It’s not my kind of holiday; I hate stuffing, I don’t like mashed potatoes, gravy is too salty, and I don’t eat animal flesh. So Thanksgiving is not an event I get too excited about, but it’s Scott’s favorite (food) holiday.

So if a box of Stove Top can put a smile on his face, then I’m all about it. And yes, boxed stuffing is like boxed brownies: There’s a reason they’ve existed for decades. They’re easy, foolproof, and by and large, pretty tasty.

Edited to Add: Something weird happened with Google Reader and the permalink on this post so if you somehow arrived at this post from this linkhttp://www.averiecooks.com/2011/11/gingered-cranberry-orange-mango-chutney.html

Mmmm that looks delicious!! I never used to like cranberry sauce until I gave it another chance at this past Thanksgiving. Dallas wanted it served with our Tofurky, but I decided to make it rather than buying a can….SO EASY!! And I LOVE cranberry sauce now!! Maybe I just never liked the canned version ;)

Haha okay, glad you figured it out because I was just about to answer. Yes, I usually click from Google Reader :) Will def let you know how this turns out when I make it! And I totally agree about canned cranberry sauce: I’m convinced that’s the reason I never liked it. They don’t taste the same at all!

Ah, is this the recipe you were waiting to photograph until the sun came out? Looks so good – it would be an awesome recipe to have at Thanksgiving, although my family is pretty traditional when it comes to cranberry sauce… but maybe I can bring them to the good side ;)

I couldn’t wait. When I got my email informing me that Trader Joe’s had the brined turkeys in stock, I rushed out to buy one and cooked it on Sunday! Served with TJs Mango Ginger Chutney and TJs Hot Pepper Jelly, mashed potatoes and peas. Still enjoying the left-overs. Still planning to cook another one on Thanksgiving.

Not a huge cranberry fan, but they’re OK mixed with other stuff (like mango).

to a commenter a couple above you, i mentioned that pepper jelly with a link to a post of mine where i discovered that stuff. soooo good. between that, the mango chutney and the cran chutney I made, I’m in condiment heaven.

haha I love all the different ways you can enjoy this- my favorite is before the sun has come up!
I’m not a huge fan of cranberry sauce on thanksgiving because it’s usually quite tart. To be honest growing up I LOVEDDD the canned cranberry sauce. Loved.
I’ll be in a foreign country on thanksgiving but with my brother so we are going to try to skype with my family when they are together! It will be my first time ever not feasting, but I’m sure we’ll find some new interesting cuisine to try out that night!

This sounds like a fantastic flavor combination. I’ve never tried TJ’s version, but yours looks great! I will be showing up at a relatives house ready to eat for Thanksgiving this year. :-) Ill bring along a think you gift but no cooking for me this year. I love to cook, but it’s nice to be able to just relax and enjoy sometimes!

Great work, Averie! We have the same rule at our house – if you can make it, I’ve probably attempted it. We grew up with jars and jars of chutney as kids. My mom would make endless batches and can them for the Fall/Winter. But I don’t think I’ve had chutney since I left home… guess it just escaped my mind!

The thing I love about cranberries is that they go so well with so many different flavors, like you say in the recipe notes. I just made a sage-cranberry stir fry last night that was so good! I just added some of my ginger-cranberry sauce, a ton of veggies, and sage and thyme. It was very Thanksgiving-esque. I’m just getting my stomach ready for the onslaught…

There are two things I can’t get enough of: things with ginger in them and saving money. I’m going to definitely try this — thanks! I have some local cranberries that are just begging to go into this…perfect!

looks great, Averie! my Hawaii Grandpa made his own chutneys and we always looked forward to that package in the mail, he would send them several times a year and always at the holidays. My dad (this was his dad!) would open the box and have a spoon ready! :)

I usually make a couple of Hawaii-style chutneys this time of year, to keep that memory alive.

I love the concept of chutney, as well as salsa, adobo, and any other condiment or sauce that refuses to be classified. Someone will say, “this isn’t really chutney … it doesn’t have X (onion, chiles, etc) but that’s the beauty of chutney — it doesn’t have to have anything in particular, or even look like anything in particular.

Thanksgiving time, we always whip up copious quantities of cranberry chutney, a spicy version with cayenne, real ginger, red pepper flakes, onions, and pecans. Going to add orange this year for sure.

I can imagine that this must smell A-mazing! I love this idea :) I love cranberries for sauce and also as decor! I just used them as part of a centerpiece this past weekend…I filled up a glass bowl with cranberries and another with clementines…a pretty, rustic centerpiece in a snap (and on the cheap)!

Thanksgiving was always my least favorite holiday growing up: I didn’t eat turkey and I can’t stand cranberries, mushrooms, green bean casserole, stuffing, basically everything else that would be on the table. I look forward to making my own dishes to bring to the various functions we plan on attending.

The title sounds so complicated and exotic, but it seems so simple! I love the idea of the ginger kick. I used to hate dried cranberries and cranberry (CANberry) sauce. Now I love the dried ones and I just recently bought fresh for the first time to eat and flavor my homemade kombucha. So delicious!

Uh oh, Trader Joe’s stock is going to go down! I knew that’s what that photo was for! I love cranberries, I even eat them raw which is definitely a mouth-puckering feat. I think this might be good with some chopped crystallized ginger (the non sugar coated kind). If my mouth isn’t burning, the chutney is just not right!

my girlfriend and i, no matter what, go to brunch the first saturday morning of every month. it usually ends up being about 3 hours (we warn the server ahead of time… and tip extra!) but it is the best morning of my month by far.

i’m a last minute purchaser… i hope for those cheap last minute fares. it either totally saves you or totally screws you!

I am going to make this for thanksgiving with brie and sugared cranberry on cracker! I can’t wait! I have bunches of fresh ginger. Would it work ok by using the garlic press to get ginger out in the chutney instead of ground ginger?

Averie, I just HAD to write you and let you know how good this is !!!! I want to thank you so much for all your fantastic recipes. Just starting out in the healthy lifestyle it’s so important to have delicious recipes for variety and taste. I get so tired of boring tasteless food! What’s the point, you know? But yours are delicious, healthy and eye appealing and I want to thank you for taking the time to share. In my chutney I used cranberries, strawberries, apples, and grapefruit and tossed a handful of raisins in for good measure. The seasonings I used were cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper for the heat. Then I made some of your seed crackers and topped them with this fantastic wonderfulness….Yumm! Thank you again, I will definately be trying more of your dessert recipes with Christmas around the corner, especially the ones I can freeze ahead. With three married sons and 9 grandsons I need all the help I can get!!!

Thanks for the kind words, Dawn. I’m really glad you enjoyed it AND the other recipes, too.

“I get so tired of boring tasteless food! What’s the point, you know? But yours are delicious, healthy and eye appealing…” — Thank you and I agree! If I’m going to eat it, I’d like to enjoy it as much as possible :)

You have 9 grandsons? You are a busy lady and I’m sure could get eaten out of house and home in a hurry. Enjoy the holiday baking season and LMK if you try anything else!

because my chutney uses cranberries and the TJs does not, mine is definitely cranberry chutney; whereas theirs is mango chutney. Now..you could pretty much eliminate the cranberries, use frozen mango (or fresh mango but that would be alot of $ and at that point, it’s probably cheaper to just buy theirs) but I have thought about trying to duplicate (exactly) theirs. Just a long winded reply to tell you that if you make mine, know going in you are getting cranberry sauce, i.e. cran chutney, not the tj’s mango chutney. Which..I wish I could duplicate cost effectively!